1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the ionization of gaseous oxygen, especially of oxygen in room air, having a housing preferably consisting of an insulating material, especially PVC, with an inlet opening and an outlet opening for the oxygen or air, and with an anode and a cathode disposed in the housing. The anode and the cathode can be in the form of electrode wires extendig crosswise to the direction of flow, and can be copper and provided with a coat of enamel.
2. The Prior art
Known devices (as in German Laid-Open Application No. DE-OS 34 11 335) permit the achievement of very high ion concentrations or corresponding charged particle concentrations without the formation of ozone. This prior art also prevents the formation of further harmful substances, such as for example nitrogen oxides. Based on the specialized disposition and construction of the anodes and cathode of the known apparatus, the interaction of the oxygen molecules, either in pure oxygen or in the oxygen of the air, is just intense enough to make ionization possible, but not sufficient to make possible the formation of active oxygen as a precondition for the formation of ozone.
The known apparatus above for the ionization of gaseous oxygen is especially designed for medical use. In this field a high positive ionization of the medical oxygen is of importance. Therefore it is only possible with the known apparatus to realize either a positive or a negative ionization of the air or oxygen flowing out of the outlet.
Ionization apparatuses for the ionization of room air having larger volumes are generally known (as in German Published Application No. DE-AS 25 45 905). These generally operate with relatively low ion concentrations in the outflowing room air. Also in this prior art, positively ionized or negatively ionized room air can be obtained, depending on whether the anode is placed downstream from the cathode or upstream from the cathode in the direction of flow. In this as well as in the known apparatus further above, on which the invention is based, electrostatic charges in a room can only be eliminated if they accidentally have polarity opposite that of the ionization polarity. Otherwise these charges are possibly even increased.